TIME: ‘New Cowboys’ in the United States of Texas

AUSTIN-Texas offers a cheaper way of life that looks like America’s future, says economist Tyler Cowen in a cover story for TIME, and it offers enough jobs to make people eager to give it a try.

Cowen writes:

“The U.S. is experiencing ever greater economic inequality and the thinning of its middle class; Texas is already one of our most unequal states. America’s safety net is fraying under the weight of ballooning Social Security and Medicare costs; Texas’ safety net was built frayed. Americans are seeking a cheaper cost of living and a less regulated climate in which to do business; Texas has those in spades. And did we mention there’s no state income tax?”

Cheap living is luring people to Texas along with jobs, he writes, saying Texas added 12 percent of all jobs nationwide with 274,700.

“The Americans heading to Texas and other cheap-living states are a bit like the mythical cowboys of our past—self-reliant, for better or worse,” he writes.

He acknowledges “major downsides”:

Many Americans will have to downsize their living quarters involuntarily. People in the shrinking middle class who want to have more than one child may find the costs too high. There is no longer the expectation, much less the guarantee, that living standards double or even increase much with each generation.
But it’s not all bad news—especially if we take the right steps to prepare. The flood of Americans moving to Texas shows us where we need to focus our attention; what these migrants have found in Texas shows us ways many of our cities and states can improve.

He says the public education system must be more rigorous, and other states also can “incorporate some of the lessons Texas has to teach.” He says states could deregulate building in order to lower costs (“San Francisco needs to become more like Houston when it comes to zoning”) and cut down on occupational licensing.

“A little more freedom in strategically targeted areas—that is, a little more ­Texas—could go a long way,” Cowen writes.